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If Apple update the MacBook Air (Retina display, thinner bezels) will you buy?

  • Yes it’s what I’ve wanted them to do for years

    Votes: 187 83.9%
  • No the MacBook Air is dead I want something else

    Votes: 36 16.1%

  • Total voters
    223
im looking for a newer laptop, either a MBPro or Dell 13.3 because im tired of both OSx's but hApple is not going down a path were they ignore older and even recent products, which i feel is not right
 
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I can't say enough how happy I am with my new Air... love the Gold and am even quite used to the new keyboard. With the great return policy Apple has, I've been really scrutinizing this one and I just don't find anything that I don't like. Before it arrived and I had read all the negatives about price and dim screens I got a bit nervous. I too keep mine for a long time and then pass them on to my husband. I want no buyers remorse. But the more I use it, the more confident I am that it's a great little machine. Hope you enjoy yours just as much.

Glad that you are happy with your purchase. We tend to get more negative comments than positive about new Apple products because there is a natural tendency to critic newly released devices. That's ok.....so long as it's taken with a grain of salt. There are certainly times when the criticism is warranted.

The new MBA is perfect for me, and I will upgrade when my 2014 MBA starts to show signs of trouble. Currently, it is humming along. I really just have one remaining concern about the new MBA....the reliability of the gen 3 Butterfly keyboard. Only time will tell if Apple has addressed this issue. There have been problems with the 2018 MBP. I hope the 2018 MBA will be different.
 
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A nice balanced review from MobileTechReview just in on the 2018 Air....touches on the display brightness (270 nit range on the one they tested):
 
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I decided to pickup the Air as well today, I was in the Apple store and my wife’s laptop is in dire need of replacement. If anything I thought I’d do it as an experiment.

I’ll use it for a week and let you guys know of what I think of the machine. If it’s no good, I’ll return.

I went for the 8GB/256 variant, I think on a machine like this it would be rare for me to utilise or feel the benefit of the 16GB RAM as I don’t do heavy video or audio work, before the CPU bottlenecks me (on multitasking which is the only area I could ever have benefited from it and even then, marginal improvement).

Also might pick up a new Pro 15 with Vega tomorrow if it becomes available...

Let us know what you think after the week with the new rMBA. After reading a bunch of post about new purchases seem's that 256 GB SSD is the winner at this time. Have not seen a lot of post about the base model with 128 GB SSD, or maybe I missed them. As a person who really, really, likes the MBA line, maybe this is a sign that one day we will get 8 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD, in an update in the next few rounds. Of course it's Apple, so they would keep the same price :) I would like to see the rMBA get down to the $999.00 price range, and they keep the old one and lower it to say $799 at regular price. My family members could care less about retina, RAM, they do ask about storage though, left over from the 500 GB HD days :) And none of them ever get close to maybe 50 GB of use n storage, if that! Now I am only talking about MY family the Student's, YouTube, Netflix, FaceBook, Surfing the Web, Online Shopper's, etc... type people. Which I think is most MBA consumers. Or maybe not!

Once again it appears 256 GB SDD for the new r MBA is leading the pack, or am I wrong?
 
I just got back from the Apple store, I tried out the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, I really don’t know what all the fuss is about with the screen on the Air, seeing it in person it really wasn’t bad at all, the colours looked vibrant, the display has great viewing angles and the Air really is a step up from the last generation.

You can really tell the difference between the old Air and the new one, where as the difference between the Pro and the new Air isn’t that noticeable. The Pro is a little more brighter, it’s colours pop just a little bit more but other than that there isn’t a difference, 95% - 99% of people will be more than happy with the new Air, if you edit video professionally or you really need True Tone then get the Pro with Touch Bar, otherwise the Air is a great upgrade.

Other things I noticed include:

The speakers are louder and sound better than the old Air and my old 2011 MacBook Pro

The new gold colour is actually nice in person and is more of a copper gold, I can see how it appears different under different lighting conditions.

It’s actually smaller than I thought it would be and it’s got a nice premium weight to it

It’s more than fast enough for most tasks, I opened iMovie, pages, Safari with a number of tabs and it didn’t even turn the fan on (that I could hear anyway).

The screen on the new Air has the same resolution as the MacBook Pro, the only difference is that the Pro has a P3 and True Tone display. It really isn’t that much more noticeable, at least not to me, ie someone coming from a 2011 MacBook Pro non retina.

After taking about an hour and a half inside the Apple store I came out pleasantly surprised with the new Air, and the best news is that I’ve FINALLY decided what I’ll be buying/upgrading too, it will be without a doubt the new Air. It was able to handle everything I threw at it in my work load and more.

To most people I would reccomed this new Air, students and general consumers are going to love it I think.
It's nice hearing not everyone hating it. My local BB sold out of the 8/256 space gray after a day or two and won't have more until this Friday, so I haven't bothered going to BB yet to check it out in person for myself, just relied on macrumors for what to expect, which overall has made it sound pretty bad.
 
Alright, so I've been using my new MBA for a few days and here are my thoughts:
  • Battery life has been fantastic so far, I can use it for a good chunk of the day and still have about 20-25% charge left by the time I'm ready for bed. Much better compared to the rMBP it replaced, which had to be plugged in about every 3-4 hours or so with regular use!
  • Screen brightness is comparable to my old rMBP and I don't take it outside so no real complaints here.
  • Having Touch ID is great, better than typing in a password and it's quicker than using my Watch. Even better since I get actual function keys with it!
  • Performance was a little something I was worried about, but so far I've noticed that it's about as fast (if not faster) than my old rMBP with its i7. Shows you just how far CPUs have come in just 4-5 years.
  • The third gen keyboard is pretty nice, the tactile feel is better than the 2015 12" MacBook that I used to have and so far no issues with stuck keys.
  • One little thing about the screen is that the color reproduction isn't quite as good as my rMBP. It's a minor issue for me and I don't do anything color-sensitive so it's alright I suppose. Something to keep in mind if you plan on doing photo or video editing though.
  • Going from a bunch of ports to just the two TB3 ports hasn't been too bad for me; I have adapters and dongles that I bought years ago for the 12" MB, and my Android phone uses USB-C so I've got all that I need to rectify the port situation on the MBA. Still miss MagSafe though.
  • Pleased to see that Apple made the new MBA a little more repair-friendly, now I can actually replace the battery myself without having to worry about that horrible glue they use on all the other MacBooks (including my old rMBP).
  • As I pointed out in a couple of posts in this forum, the "gold" color is really more of a copper hue with hints of pink if you catch it at the right angle and lighting. I was actually going to go for the silver one, but the gold MBA looked stunning under the store lights so I guess it was love at first sight!
I've been super pleased with the new MBA and this was the upgrade that I've been looking for. This is the first new Mac that I've owned since my very first one (a mid-2007 white MacBook), and I hope it'll last just as long as my first one did. I was getting rather tired of the string of used Macs that I've gone through in five years...

My one real complaint is the pricing and how it all squares with the rest of the Mac lineup. The pricing is a little steep compared to the competition, and if I wasn't going to trade in my rMBP I would've waited a bit longer before upgrading. And as many people have pointed out, I think it's ridiculous that the base model only has 128 gigs of storage which is barely enough these days. It seems very strange that the 12" MacBook starts at 256 GB, and yet the base MBA only has half that storage. I get that Apple is doing that to make it more affordable, but now you have an odd situation where the smallest, oldest and least powerful laptop starts off more expensive than an all-new, more powerful and larger computer with more hardware features (and arguably a better keyboard). Not even sure what Apple's going to do for the non-Touch Bar MBP since it didn't get an update this year.
 
It's nice hearing not everyone hating it. My local BB sold out of the 8/256 space gray after a day or two and won't have more until this Friday, so I haven't bothered going to BB yet to check it out in person for myself, just relied on macrumors for what to expect, which overall has made it sound pretty bad.

If you can get chance to have hands do that, it really isn't as bad as some of the comments on the forum are making out. People usually only ever comment when there's negative stuff. If you get chance, go to an Apple store and try it out, see what you think personally.

In the Apple store i went to yesterday they had no gold left, i was trying out the Macbook Air and new Macbook Pro for about an hour and half, i got talking to an Apple store employee who said the new Air are selling well, the gold and Space Grey seem to be the most popular is what he said. While i was trying out the machine there were people checking them out. I think interest is high at the moment.
 
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Im out of the laptop game a for a few years since I just got a new mbp 2018.
But for a while I was considering returning mine for a 2018 MBA.
I checked it out in the flesh and wasn't impressed.
The thing that turned me off was just one available port which is on the same side and so close to the power port.
No thanks....dongle or no dongle.

It does look like a sexy beast though.....I started out with gold as my target, but when i saw them all up close I feel this machine is best suited in space grey.

Two-three years down the road, this will be a really cool piece of gear but not now.
 
Im out of the laptop game a for a few years since I just got a new mbp 2018.
But for a while I was considering returning mine for a 2018 MBA.
I checked it out in the flesh and wasn't impressed.
The thing that turned me off was just one available port which is on the same side and so close to the power port.
No thanks....dongle or no dongle.

It does look like a sexy beast though.....I started out with gold as my target, but when i saw them all up close I feel this machine is best suited in space grey.

Two-three years down the road, this will be a really cool piece of gear but not now.


Two available ports, either can act as power. :)
 
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Looks like Lenovo were quicker than I expected. Ordered the Lenovo S730 i7/16GB/512GB yesterday and it is delivered today. I'll give a quick review of the difference in experience between the two as I think it is the closest Air competitor.
 
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Love this Macbook, but how about the camera quality? My FaceTime HD camera is awful quality, how come?
 
Looks like Lenovo were quicker than I expected. Ordered the Lenovo S730 i7/16GB/512GB yesterday and it is delivered today. I'll give a quick review of the difference in experience between the two as I think it is the closest Air competitor.

Following this, I am sad to report a dead pixel in the middle of the screen :( so it will be going back...

Otherwise, here are some thoughts:

- The machine is beautiful (S730), like honestly it is so nice I actually prefer it to MacBook's. Even the bottom and sides are so nice, not many manage to do this.
- The keyboard is superior by miles, it isn't a contest
- WiFi performance is worse than my Air. On the Air, I was getting near the limit of my Wifi router (330 Mbps down and up). The Lenovo only managed around 160 Mbps down and up. Test was run several times from same location to same WiFi router within a few minutes to ensure a fair test. The WiFi on the MBA is very very strong.
- The screen on the Lenovo is maybe a tad brighter and the MBA is definitely more yellow.
- Fan is audible quite a few times on the Lenovo, now I have to take into consideration that the Lenovo does have a far better processor (i7-8565u vs i5-8210Y), so it could just be that. It is a thin and light laptop so I would assume it will get loud under semi-loads.
- Battery life is likely to be better on the MBA, it has a 50Wh battery vs the 42 Wh on the Lenovo

I am not sure if I want to refund or replace the Lenovo.... It is so nice!
 
Following this, I am sad to report a dead pixel in the middle of the screen :( so it will be going back...

Otherwise, here are some thoughts:

- The machine is beautiful (S730), like honestly it is so nice I actually prefer it to MacBook's. Even the bottom and sides are so nice, not many manage to do this.
- The keyboard is superior by miles, it isn't a contest
- WiFi performance is worse than my Air. On the Air, I was getting near the limit of my Wifi router (330 Mbps down and up). The Lenovo only managed around 160 Mbps down and up. Test was run several times from same location to same WiFi router within a few minutes to ensure a fair test. The WiFi on the MBA is very very strong.
- The screen on the Lenovo is maybe a tad brighter and the MBA is definitely more yellow.
- Fan is audible quite a few times on the Lenovo, now I have to take into consideration that the Lenovo does have a far better processor (i7-8565u vs i5-8210Y), so it could just be that. It is a thin and light laptop so I would assume it will get loud under semi-loads.
- Battery life is likely to be better on the MBA, it has a 50Wh battery vs the 42 Wh on the Lenovo

I am not sure if I want to refund or replace the Lenovo.... It is so nice!

Nobody can beat A Lenovo Keyboard, I think that’s just known industry wide by now.

Fan is audible because Lenovo probably used a single thin heat pipe going to the fan, and it’s pushing the thermal limits when stressed at all.

Most Lenovo screens are also around 280-300 nits, but due to manufacturing variances and brands it could definitely be a bit brighter.

Lenovo designs some nice stuff, they just cheap out in some areas, the big one being the quality of their screens.
 
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Nobody can beat A Lenovo Keyboard, I think that’s just known industry wide by now.

Fan is audible because Lenovo probably used a single thin heat pipe going to the fan, and it’s pushing the thermal limits when stressed at all.

Most Lenovo screens are also around 280-300 nits, but due to manufacturing variances and brands it could definitely be a bit brighter.

Lenovo designs some nice stuff, they just cheap out in some areas, the big one being the quality of their screens.

Agreed on Lenovo keyboards. I have no doubt about reliability of Lenovo keyboards.
 
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Nobody can beat A Lenovo Keyboard, I think that’s just known industry wide by now.

Fan is audible because Lenovo probably used a single thin heat pipe going to the fan, and it’s pushing the thermal limits when stressed at all.

Most Lenovo screens are also around 280-300 nits, but due to manufacturing variances and brands it could definitely be a bit brighter.

Lenovo designs some nice stuff, they just cheap out in some areas, the big one being the quality of their screens.

The fan noise is also a more noisy fan compared to my XPS 9360 (ran a benchmark on both and the XPS is noticeably quite, it's not even the fan RPM but the fan design I would say, the sound is "different' and not just about the decibels, if that makes sense? I wouldn't say the Lenovo is whiny, but it is much more "whooshy"?).

I only played around with it for an hour or two, I didn't test it with my full development software (e.g. will VS/SSMS etc make it cry all day long? Who know's). Battery life will be weaker but I guess it will perform much better than my XPS 9360, being 4 cores rather than 2.
 
My one real complaint is the pricing and how it all squares with the rest of the Mac lineup.

I agree with all of your other points, including that last one about pricing. Fortunately, I got $200 off (thanks for that article, macrumors!) at Micro Center last Saturday (still on sale, btw) so $999 put it in the "no brainer" category for me.

I'd been using an iPad Pro exclusively since May, and was thinking I could be happy without a Mac forever, but I simply missed MacOS too much for many personal tasks. I still LOVE my 10.5" iPP and will continue to use it daily, but I'm so happy to be back to my Mac!
 
first day using it with a dock and 4k screen: no problems, no lag.

and I was just running 3 java processes and browsing, maybe the slightest of lag but what do you expect. fan kicks off after one but to be expected.

this is a peppy little beast.

max brightness is too bright for me, not good for my eyes. and installed flux (isn't that what TrueTone is anyway?)

re: the keyboard, your fingers learn not to push so hard, done.

adjusted to force touch is weird, since I'm pressing too hard for single click. similar adjustment as the keyboard, but I'm disabling it.

not crazy about the degree the lid goes back, a bit restricted.

wow, speakers.

so far so good.
 
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Following this, I am sad to report a dead pixel in the middle of the screen :( so it will be going back...

Otherwise, here are some thoughts:

- The machine is beautiful (S730), like honestly it is so nice I actually prefer it to MacBook's. Even the bottom and sides are so nice, not many manage to do this.
- The keyboard is superior by miles, it isn't a contest
- WiFi performance is worse than my Air. On the Air, I was getting near the limit of my Wifi router (330 Mbps down and up). The Lenovo only managed around 160 Mbps down and up. Test was run several times from same location to same WiFi router within a few minutes to ensure a fair test. The WiFi on the MBA is very very strong.
- The screen on the Lenovo is maybe a tad brighter and the MBA is definitely more yellow.
- Fan is audible quite a few times on the Lenovo, now I have to take into consideration that the Lenovo does have a far better processor (i7-8565u vs i5-8210Y), so it could just be that. It is a thin and light laptop so I would assume it will get loud under semi-loads.
- Battery life is likely to be better on the MBA, it has a 50Wh battery vs the 42 Wh on the Lenovo

I am not sure if I want to refund or replace the Lenovo.... It is so nice!


1x1 Wifi on the Lenovo S730. It'll struggle. Great for surfing the Internet, typically, though not great for using with NAS etc.
 
first day using it with a dock and 4k screen: no problems, no lag.

and I was just running 3 java processes and browsing, maybe the slightest of lag but what do you expect. fan kicks off after one but to be expected.

this is a peppy little beast.

max brightness is too bright for me, not good for my eyes. and installed flux (isn't that what TrueTone is anyway?)

re: the keyboard, your fingers learn not to push so hard, done.

adjusted to force touch is weird, since I'm pressing too hard for single click. similar adjustment as the keyboard, but I'm disabling it.

not crazy about the degree the lid goes back, a bit restricted.

wow, speakers.

so far so good.

What kind of RAM do you have?

I have 16GB, and have not seen any lag whatsoever on mine.
Sure is a lil beast :)

Can’t believe it’s a laptop’s speakers, amazing.
 
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